Live to create. Create to live.

Wayan. The Man on the beach

A man, I’ve encountered on a beach by accident, who’s suffering from Parkinson’s disease.

Wayan is mostly walking along the beach collecting seashells and small coconuts. The first is a basis for his natural hand-made bracelets, each of those takes 1,5 — 2 hours, and the second — for coconut bracelets, each piece of which he cuts manually.

I say it again, Wayan has Parkinson’s disease that means his head and arms are struggling to be calm and easy controlled. His speech also is pretty slurred. Surprisingly, he is able to communicate in English clearly though. I’d say he has to.

Looking at his eyes you undoubtedly might see the Man — not limited, not thrown away on the edge of the Earth, not suffering mentally.

In spite of hurdles and difficulties, Wayan is spending hours on making bracelets. He’s deeply immersed in this activity and really bothering to create items perfect, so each detail of his arms — a kind of masterpiece, as for me and not only for me.

If you are aware of Parkinson’s affect the body and abilities, then you accurately realize how sometimes challenging to express emotions or do some motions for people with this disease. As a example, if you were a witness to Wayan’s riding a bike, you would be immediately in shock, as he seems not to control anything ahead of and around – after all his head is always up.

Undoubtedly, this man could’ve complained about so many factors, he’s not doing it at all though.

His eyes are full of life. Full of hope. Full of love to people.

To be open, every time I come to the beach I hope to encounter him. To ask him to unpack all goods and begin our dialogue where there’s almost no place for bargain or something of that sort.

In the reality, some describe him as «in physical disorder», however it’s more preferable to saying that «the inner order» is much more significant. Certainly, Wayan is in tremor outwardly, although inwardly he is in total quiet state. He has to make himself smile despite his facial muscles that are trying to limit. Moreover, he has to make himself interact with people being aware that there is a chance to be misunderstood.

Nevertheless, he doesn’t have to make himself live a normal life as the life is not only physical process. And what is the normal?

Being beside him is seeing a pure bliss, a pure life. That passage is not about Parkinson’s disease. It is about rather the man’s inner strength.